Complete Genomics, the company that is lighting a fire in the genomics community with its claim that it will sequence human genomes for $5,000 apiece in the middle of 2009. ... Although Complete Genomics’ ability to accurately decode genomes seems to be within the range of its competitors, it falls short of the 100% accuracy that is ultimately desired. The upshot is that the coming revolution in genomics in the next few years will be...

The study, which was carried out on just 1% of our DNA code, challenges the view that genes are the main players in driving our biochemistry. Instead, it suggests genes, so called junk DNA and other elements, together weave an intricate control network. ... He explained that the study had found junk DNA was being transcribed, or copied, into RNA - an active molecule that relays information from DNA to the cellular machinery. He added:...

Some scientists hold out hope that well preserved sperm or other cells containing viable DNA could be used to resurrect the mammoth. ... One population of mammoths lived on in isolation on Russia's remote Wrangel Island until about 5,000 years ago...

Although the human genome sequence faithfully lists (almost) every single DNA base of the roughly 3 billion bases that make up a human genome, it doesn't tell biologists much about how its function is regulated. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute provide the first detailed map of the human epigenome, the layer of genetic control beyond the regulation inherent in the sequence of the genes themselves...

Scientists have worked out the 3D structure of the human genome. Their findings, published in Science magazine, reveal how long strands of DNA code are folded and tightly packed into the nucleus of a human cell. Unfolded, the cell's genome - those strands of DNA code - would be approximately 2m in length. The team showed how this is organised into a tight ball to fit inside a nucleus, which is about one hundredth of a millimetre in...

The YRI Trio Public Data Set provides complete genome sequence data for three Yoruba individuals from Ibadan, Nigeria, which represent the first human genomes sequenced using Illumina’s next generation Sequence-by-Synthesis technology.

I published all of my known genetic data as open source and released all my rights to the data. I’m proud to be the first person in the world to commit my genetic data into a decentralized source control system under a public domain license. The initial reactions that I received when I told some of my friends that I was going to do this was a combination of shock and skepticism.

Traces of ancient viruses which infected our ancestors millions of years ago are more widespread in us than previously thought. A study shows how extensively viruses from as far back as the dinosaur era still thrive in our genetic material. It sheds light on the origins of a big proportion of our genetic material, much of which is still not understood. The scientists investigated the genomes of 38 mammals including humans, mice, rats,...